On 3 November, residents of the US state of Virginia voted to enshrine the ‘right to reproductive freedom’ in the state constitution. The proposal, known as ‘Question 1’ or the ‘Right to Reproductive Freedom Amendment’, was approved by around 62 per cent of the vote.
The amendment states that ‘everyone has a fundamental right to reproductive freedom’. It also protects doctors, nurses and patients from punishment or sanctions for decisions they may have made.
Lasting protection against a Republican majority in the state legislature
Abortion cannot be prohibited as long as a doctor considers it medically justifiable in the interests of the mother’s physical or mental health, or if the foetus is not viable. The number of doctors required to authorise a late-term abortion is reduced from three to one.
Virginia has been the only state in the southern US not to have introduced abortion restrictions or early limits since the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, which in 1973 established that the US Constitution grants women the right to abortion. The ruling made abortion legal throughout the US and stood for almost 50 years, until it was overturned in 2022.
NEW: Virginia voters have voted to allow the abortion of babies who are minutes from being born, provided a single doctor deems the mother’s “mental health” to be at risk.
The constitutional amendment will establish permanent protections for abortions.
Women will be able to kill a… pic.twitter.com/lil7rYIXpH
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) 4 November 2026
Wide scope for ‘abortion providers’
Current legislation permits abortion throughout the second trimester, i.e. the second three-month period into which a pregnancy can be divided. Supporters see the constitutional enshrinement as lasting protection against future political changes in the state legislature.
Pro-life organisations warn that the law gives ‘abortion providers’ broad discretion to perform late-term abortions.
The changes are scheduled to come into force on 1 January 2027.
🚨 Bishop Michael Burbidge of Arlington, Virginia, has issued a statement in response to Virginia voters’ decisions to legalise abortion right up until birth and recognise same-sex “marriage”.
‘Tragically, a majority of Virginians voted this election season to insert an extreme and… pic.twitter.com/arqrpv8FQC
— CatholicVote (@CatholicVote) 4 November 2026
In nine US states plus Washington, D.C., abortion is, in principle, legal up until birth. In Alaska, Colorado, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon and Vermont, no law states that abortion becomes illegal after a certain number of weeks.
Abortion is banned, with narrow exceptions, in 13 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia. Seven states have limits ranging from six to 12 weeks.
Since 1988, Canada has had no federal gestational limit. Abortion is legal throughout the entire pregnancy, but clinics and hospitals may set their own limits.
